Proponent Testimony on SB66

Senate Judiciary on Criminal Justice

June 25, 2003

Provided by George Biggs MSW, LISW

Good morning Chairman Austria and members of the Senate Judiciary on Criminal Justice Committee.

My name is George Biggs and I am the Assistant Executive Director of the Ohio Association of Child Caring Agencies (OACCA). OACCA is a statewide association of nearly 80 private and public agencies that provide a wide array of services to children such as drug and alcohol treatment, adoption, residential, foster care, and mental health services.

Thank you for the opportunity to offer proponent testimony on SB66 sponsored by Senator Kirk Schuring.

The ChildAdvocacyCenter movement began in 1985. The concept has been very effective and has been recognized at the national level for its success in investigation of child abuse and the provision of services to the victims. There are now national and regional organizations established to assist communities in starting, developing and maintaining a child advocacy center.[1]

Child advocacy centers are child-focused organizations made up of multidisciplinary team members. These teams include child protection, law enforcement, prosecution, mental health, and medical personnel who can meet to discuss and make decisions about the investigation, treatment and prosecution of cases of severe physical abuse of a child and sexual abuse of a child.

SB66 would allow Ohiocounties (or contiguous counties) to establish child advocacy centersto implement this multidisciplinary team approach. This bill will:

  • Make the establishment of a child advocacy center voluntary in each county based on the needs and resources of the county.
  • Require Public Children Services agencies that are currently mandated to investigate all allegations of child abuse and neglect to refer cases of “severe physical abuse of a child” and “sexual abuse of a child” to the child advocacy center if one has been established in the county.
  • Enable child victims to be better served and less traumatized through the elimination of multiple interviews and more thorough diagnoses and assessments of needed services.
  • Enable child victims to have a greater array of services made available to them in a timely manner.
  • Ensure more effective identification and prosecution of perpetrators of child abuse.

SB66 will NOT:

  • Diminish the authority Public Children’s Services Agencies, or relieve any public official or agency from any legal obligation or responsibility.
  • Duplicate services of the Public Children Services Agencies, but will provide a wider array of professional services to them at the beginning of the investigation into serious child abuse situations.

In summary, SB66 is a good approach to enhancing Ohio’s ability to effectively investigate serious child abuse cases, to professionally assess necessary treatment needs, and to prosecute child abuse perpetrators.

I thank you for the opportunity to present this testimony today and thank you for your continued interest and support in protecting Ohio’s most vulnerable citizens. I urge you to support SB66.

I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

[1] Prepared by Kathleen G. Williams, M.S.S. Director, ChildAdvocacyCenter, Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office.